Russian analyst predicts decline and breakup of US
MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti)
http://en.rian.ru/world/20081124/118512713.html
A leading Russian political analyst has said the economic turmoil in
the US has confirmed his long-held view that the country is heading
for collapse, and will divide into separate parts. Professor Igor
Panarin, 60, is a professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has authored several books on
information warfare. Panarin said in an interview with the respected
daily Izvestia published on Monday: “The dollar is not secured by
anything. The country’s foreign debt has grown like an avalanche, even
though in the early 1980s there was no debt. By 1998, when I first
made my prediction, it had exceeded $2 trillion. Now it is more than
11 trillion. This is a pyramid that can only collapse.” The paper said
Panarin’s dire predictions for the US economy, initially made at an
international conference in Australia 10 years ago at a time when the
economy appeared strong, have been given more credence by this year’s
events. When asked when the US economy would collapse, Panarin said:
“It is already collapsing. Due to the financial crisis, three of the
largest and oldest five banks on Wall Street have already ceased to
exist, and two are barely surviving. Their losses are the biggest in
history. Now what we will see is a change in the regulatory system on
a global financial scale: America will no longer be the world’s
financial regulator.”
When asked who would replace the US in regulating world markets, he
said: “Two countries could assume this role: China, with its vast
reserves, and Russia, which could play the role of a regulator in
Eurasia.” Asked why he expected the US to break up into separate
parts, he said: “A whole range of reasons. Firstly, the financial
problems in the US will get worse. Millions of citizens there have
lost their savings. Prices and unemployment are on the rise. General
Motors and Ford are on the verge of collapse, and this means that
whole cities will be left without work. Governors are already
insistently demanding money from the federal center. Dissatisfaction
is growing, and at the moment it is only being held back by the
elections and the hope that Obama can work miracles. But by spring, it
will be clear that there are no miracles.” He also cited the
“vulnerable political setup”, “lack of unified national laws”, and
“divisions among the elite, which have become clear in these crisis
conditions.”
He predicted that the US will break up into six parts — the Pacific
coast, with its growing Chinese population; the South, with its
Hispanics; Texas, where independence movements are on the rise; the
Atlantic coast, with its distinct and separate mentality; five of the
poorer central states with their large Native American populations;
and the northern states, where the influence from Canada is strong. He
even suggested that “we could claim Alaska — it was only granted on
lease, after all.” On the fate of the US dollar, he said: “In 2006 a
secret agreement was reached between Canada, Mexico and the US on a
common Amero currency as a new monetary unit. This could signal
preparations to replace the dollar. The one-hundred dollar bills that
have flooded the world could be simply frozen. Under the pretext,
let’s say, that terrorists are forging them and they need to be
checked.” When asked how Russia should react to his vision of the
future, Panarin said: “Develop the ruble as a regional currency.
Create a fully functioning oil exchange, trading in rubles … We must
break the strings tying us to the financial Titanic, which in my view
will soon sink.”
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